The Menil Collection, Houston

After hanging out with my aunt and uncle in Pensacola, on the beach (note: that's Eddy, not my aunt, with the goatee) and at Joe Patti's fish market, we made it to New Orleans and found out that every day is mardi gras on Bourbon Street. A few bad cajun meals later, one of which will always be known as the Boudin King's revenge, we were crossing the Sabine Pass into Texas in the pitch black night.

We were driving towards Port Arthur. We saw a halo on the horizon, the kind you see over large cities at night. Just how big a city was this Port Arthur, anyway? Then we saw a dazzling array of lights, like we were driving into midtown Manhattan. We started thinking of spending the night there, surely there would be a selection of all-night diners to choose from. But then the buildings started to look hollow, the lights on them were glittering without reflection, and we realized the whole thing was a giant oil refinery. It felt like we were in Oz...close enough I thought, it is Texas.

The Menil Collection in Houston is free, and if you offer a donation they look at you like you are really putting them out. They have enough already. Really, they do. It is situated near downtown in a quaint neighborhood with craftsman-style homes and big oak trees lining the road. View image It opened in 1987 and was designed by Renzo Piano. The docent let Eddy take one picture of the inside lobby. Nearby are many smaller objects of interest, such as the Rothko Chapel, Cy Twombly Gallery, and a Dan Flavin installation. Huge sunshades filtered the natural light into the galleries of the main building, and continued around the outside of the building.

The Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas

The Nasher wasn't free, but it was worth coming early to have the garden and galleries practically to ourselves. This recently completed museum by Renzo Piano boasts being the only museum built specifically to display sculpture. Behind the main building, a large walled garden continues the exhibits. View image There were a lot of fine details, such as the staircase and another inventive solution for using natural light in the galleries. View image

The Modern Art Museum of Ft. Worth

This huge building designed by Tadao Ando shares a parking lot with the Kimbell Art Museum by Louis Kahn. The lobby is a big glass and concrete box, like the exterior, but within the galleries are plenty of interesting spaces and hidden delights. View image

The Kimbell Art Museum

Designed by Louis Kahn, this was one of my favorite places we saw this summer. It was built 30 or so years ago, but is timeless. It could have doubled as a house of worship, or even a small airport...it was such a fantastic space just to be in. The entrance belies the openess you feel in the galleries. Going up to the galleries, main floor lobby. In the bookshop we discovered what we needed before starting the trip...a giant new book published by Phaidon that covers modern architecture around the globe. Seeing as we didn't have a spare $160 or enough room in the Saab to haul it, we scribbled notes of what we wanted to see in out next destination...California.

California's a long way away from Ft. Worth. We took some more photos before we made it across the Texas state line. Above is the Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo. An artist (or was it a rancher?) in the '80's planted this thing, and it punctuates the surrounding dust field and feedlots defiantly! Make sure you bring your own spray paint. More scenes from Texas, which by the way you really don't want to mess with. wires to infinity, Wires Saves, containers on the horizon, roadside cows.